The Problem with Depression Doping

Mental health is not what you’d call an “exact science.” For example, if two highly trained mental health providers meet privately with the same patient, they will agree 90 percent of the time on diagnosing schizophrenia and 65 to 70 percent of the time on diagnosing a bipolar disorder. But this reliability drops off sharply in cases of depression—our two mental health providers would agree only 28 percent of the time on such a diagnosis. This should not surprise us: Depression, as many can attest, covers a broad spectrum of mood disorders, that span different subtypes, and entail, among other things, different treatment responses and risks. 

Still, expert mental health professionals can help people identify ways to recover from depression and become more resilient. Medications certainly can help to treat mental health disorders, particularly those that meet the criteria of: 1 in 12 people in the United States. Antidepressants are arguably being overprescribed. And what’s puzzling is that more than 75 percent of antidepressant drugs are by a general health practitioner, not a mental health provider, whose standard would have been to offer a psychiatric assessment with treatment to include therapy. A 2015 , based on data from the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area, concluded that “antidepressants are commonly used in the absence of clear evidence-based indications.” As a result, many people are receiving medication in order to cope with a broad range of subtypes, as well as symptoms of, depression that do not meet diagnostic criteria—including the ongoing developmental work of adulthood—that can be treated by other means.